DailyPost 2604
AI POWERHOUSE “ALWAYS IN PERIL”
The general impression is that Artificial Intelligence, AI, has fairly stabilized and it would keep yielding fruits for long times to come. The consistent story is that the versions of the laymen, we might here call them users, and that of the creators remain very different most of times and there can situations where it can even be radically opposite. Today who wants to discuss about the hardware the supports AI. Seemingly for the world it is sorted out, it will automatically keep on happening. Simply put, it is done and dusted, but that is not the case.
The understanding then is that the company which is AI’s vanguard would be in a comfortable situation and have a definite long honeymoon. But that is not the case. With a $1.1 trillion market cap, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says his AI powerhouse in always in peril. He further reiterates that he can feel it. Nvidia, the semiconductor maker plays a key role in the artificial intelligence boom, which has brought back tech power and trajectory to the Silicon Valley. Nvidia processors are used for gaming, autonomous vehicles et al and thus is the main propellent of the AI enabled new tech world order.
There has been a competition among the tech giants to buy its expensive AI chips. On this strength and on the promise of an AI enabled world, this year Nvidia joined the select group of companies to have crossed the $1 trillion market cap. The CEO candidly states, “there are no companies that are assured survival.” Have you ever heard this from an Indian tech CEO. Nvidia in its three-decade old history has facet several existential threats. It went bankrupt in 1995 after the launch of the first NV1, which did not attract customers and half of the employees had to be laid off before the success of the third chip happened.
The company was built ground up and was on the way of going out of business a few times. His final statement is prophetic of times in which live, the slippery business tech ground, whatever might be the nature of success. “We don’t have to pretend the company is always in peril. The company is always in peril and we feel it.” The company he feels is somewhere between aspiration and desperation. This is pointed out is much better than either being always optimistic or always pessimistic. Couple of points to ponder in this direction. The first being * restrictions on US tech exports to China;* trying to sell chips with decreased capabilities in China, exposes it to competition with rivals. Secondly, the competition form rival AMD and others are bound to intensify. Thirdly, “the rest of world won’t just roll over and let them dominate AI.” They are also facing the curse of Tesla. The thought of peril is the ultimate catalyst for not only survival but for successes galore.
KODAK MOMENT IS ITS IRONY, REAMAINS AN ALL-TIME INSPIRATION.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.